


Growing Up

by kromatus



Series: Growing Up [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Multi, Other, Undertale Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-05-19 10:33:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5964159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kromatus/pseuds/kromatus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story includes Frisk saving Asriel, and them growing up together; complete with shenanigans, Tom-foolery, and maybe some romance? Will include many more characters and pairings as the story progresses.<br/>Will include multiple chapters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

“Don’t worry about me, Frisk,” Asriel looked down, and turned his back to the other child, “Someone has to take care of these flowers…”

Frisk’s heart panged with pain, as they watched this small goat-child resign into accepting his fate to remain in the Underground. Frisk knew there was something they could do, there had to be! They were going to find a way to save Asriel.

Frisk approached Asriel from behind, slowly and quietly, extending their hand out.

“Asriel…?” Frisk whispered, still moving slowly.

Asriel turned around quickly, tears streaming down his cheeks, pain evident in his eyes.

“Frisk, don’t you have anything better to do?!” Asriel yelled out, his small voice cracking. His shoulder shook as he stiffled his sobs. “Frisk…” His fists clenching harder at his sides.

Asriel turned his head away, still crying, and closed their eyes, “Please, Frisk…” He pleaded, “Please just go… Go be happy with everyone else… You deserve it…” As his voice trailed off, he fell to his knees, placing his fists on his thighs.

“You deserve it, too, Asriel!” Frisk exclaimed, throwing their outstretched hand to the side. “Asriel! You deserve happiness! You deserve to be with everyone else!” Frisk wanted to approach Asriel and give him the physical comfort they gave not even half an hour ago, when Asriel broke the barrier, but they decided against it.

“Frisk, stop. I don’t. I don’t deserve any of it,” Asriel said with resolve in his voice, “I don’t deserve happiness, I don’t deserve to be with them. I killed them all, I killed…” His voice began to crack and grow faint, “I killed…you, Frisk. So many times…” He dropped his face into his hands and sobbed.

For a moment, Asriel’s loud sobs filled the small, cave like area. The flowers swayed in a slight breeze that came from the hole in the ceiling. The setting sun allowed a pink glow to bring out the golden color of the flowers.

A few tears spilled out of Frisk’s eyes, falling to the ground as they hung their head. They would not sob, they would not give up.

“Asriel.” Frisk spoke, with their small voice, strong.

Asriel’s sobbing started to calm down, and there were longer moments of silence between hiccups. Sniffles echoed, as he rubbed his nose with the back of his sleeve. Frisk approached Asriel, and sat next to him.

“Asriel, can I just talk for a minute?” Frisk asked Asriel, starting to lay down in the flowers, and looked through the hole up at the sky, oranges and purples dancing together amongst blue-tinted clouds.

Asriel, surprised, nodded toward Frisk, and then lied beside them, also looking up towards the sky.

“Asriel, do you know why I was on Mt. Ebott?”

Asriel looked towards Frisk, his mouth slightly open. He meant to speak, but decided against it, and only shook his head.

Frisk sighed, and began their story.

“At home, Asriel, amongst the humans… My life wasn’t so great…

“At home, Asriel, my parents didn’t notice me. They knew I was alive, obviously, but it was like… I was a hole on the wall that they covered with a framed picture. They wanted to forget I was there. I took care of myself, and did what was expected, like going to school. My parents almost never spoke to me. I wondered, ‘Why was I even here if they don’t want me?’

“I wondered…’Would they even care if I disappeared? Would they care if I died?’”

Asriel watched Frisk intently, trying to pick out any sort of queues.

Frisk sighed again, and wrapped an arm over their eyes. Whether they were hiding their tears, or using it as another coping mechanism, Asriel couldn’t be sure.

“So, I tried.”

“Tried what?” Asriel questioned, unsure what they were referring to.

“I tried to kill myself.”

“Frisk!” Asriel propped himself up on his elbows, very concerned for Frisk.

“Asriel, lie down. I’m not done with my story.” Frisk raised their elbow, which was resting over the bridge of their nose, enough to look at Asriel out of the corner of thier eye. Once Asriel was on his back again, and looking to the sky, Frisk moved their elbow to it’s orginal position, and inhaled deeply.

“One day, I went into my parents bathroom, knowing my mother had sleeping pills-”

“What are ‘pills’?”

“Like, a poweder compressed into a small tablet like thing. It’s eaten to get the effects, like sleeping.”

Asriel made an ‘oh’ shape with his mouth, then allowed Frisk to complete their story.

“In the human world, Asriel, if you take enough sleeping pills, you go to sleep. Forever.”

Asriel looked toward Frisk again, sadness pervading his facial features.

“So, I took a bunch, and went to my bed and lied down…” Frisk’s voice cracked. Asriel knew this was something that was difficult for Frisk to talk about, but didn’t interrupt them. He let them have their time to calm down and continue their story.

“Later, I woke up in a white room in a hospital. A hospital is where doctors and scientist take care of sick people. Anyways, my parents had noticed my lack of presence, and had found me. By the time I had woken up, though, it had been a few days later. Once I was okay enough, they brought me home, and we went back into our regular daily life.

“Months passed… And nothing changed. My parents didn’t start paying me more attention, they didn’t address me more. Was it worth it…?

“Rumors went around about Mt. Ebott, that those that climb it never return. It seemed so perfect, to just disappear. I made a plan, then, to climb Mt. Ebott, and disappear forever.

“No one knew why people disappeared. I had no idea I would fall down here, and end up in the Underground.

“But when I fell down, my body hurt. But not enough to just give up. I decided, before I die, I might as well explore. Then I met you.”

Asriel tensed up all over, and looked away from Frisk. The guilt washed over him, now that he could actually feel anything. “Frisk…”

“Well, Flowey, I suppose.”

Asriel turned back to Frisk, noticing they moved their arm back to their side in those few seconds. He decided to try and remain silent.

“Naturally, I was scared of you, but… I figured this was it. A talking flower. Something wasn’t right…

“Monsters, even in the form of talking flowers, is not something easily comprehensible to humans. Sure, we had heard about the war, but honestly, no one believes it actually happened.

“So I thought, ‘This monster is going to kill me’.

“I knew you were dangerous, but I continued anyway. When you talked about my SOUL, I was scared, but accepted my fate as you closed in around me with the bullets. But the closer you came, the more I feared for my life… I wasn’t ready to die…

“Thank god Toriel showed up, honestly.”

“Hey! That fire ball hurt, okay?” Asriel got defensive, remembering the magic attack his mother hurled at him. Asriel decided against mentioning how angry it made him, which was the closest thing he could feel to hurt from being attacked by his own mother- although she didn’t know  who he was.

Frisk chuckled a little bit, “Okay, Asriel.

“Anyway, when Toriel saved me, I realized I just wasn’t ready to die. And when she brought me Home…”

Frisk’s eyes grew hot as tears welled up in the corners. Frisk smiled toward the sky, and sniffled away the tears.

“When she brought me home, I realized all I wanted was attention… All I wanted was for someone to care about me, even a little bit. I considered for a while to stay with her forever, just enjoying butterscotch-cinnamon pie, sitting by the fire and reading books… That’s what I wanted now…

“But I knew, I had to go. I couldn’t live amongst monsters. I had to continue. Fighting her was difficult. I couldn’t do it, I just pleaded until she gave up and let me continue. Well, you know what happened from there…”

Frisk trailed off, sighing. They continued to look towards the sky, blinking as small, hot tears fell from the corners of their eyes and fell into their ears. Asriel’s soul ached, which was almost a welcome feeling, as it had been so long since he felt anything other than anger.

Asriel reached out, and took Frisk’s hand in his own. Frisk smiled toward the sky, before looking toward Asriel.

“Asriel, as I continued my journey, and got to know everyone… I gathered the DETERMINATION to save everyone. I knew I could break the barrier, I knew I could bring everyone to the Surface, and we could all live together…”

Frisk squeezed Asriel’s hand, “That includes you, Asriel. I’m going to save you.”

“Frisk, I don’t think you can… I don’t think there’s way…” Asriel looked to the sky, the purples growing darker into deep blues.

“Asriel… I already have…” Frisk smiled, and looked toward the sky as well.

Asriel, incredulous, looked towards Frisk. He let go of their hand and propped himself up on his elbows again, “Frisk, what are you talking about?”

Frisk looked to Asriel, and revealed their SOUL, which was in half. Asriel looked toward where his own SOUL should be, and there was the other half of Frisk’s SOUL.

“Wh...What? How?” Asriel questioned, slowly raising his paw up to the SOUL, feeling the warmth and the DETERMINATION emanating from it.

Frisk held up their hand that Asriel was holding so tightly, and that’s when Asriel realized that they were holding the other half the whole time.

“Frisk…” Asriel’s eyes welled up with tears, “Frisk… I can’t… I can’t accept this, I can’t join you.”

“Shut up, Asriel, it’s already done,” Frisk smiled, propping themself on their elbows, and rolled over to stand up.

As Frisk stood up, they brushed off some dirt, and fixed their sweater. Asriel sat up, and crossed his feet, feeling the warmth of the SOUL. 

“Frisk…” He looked up at them, “Thank you…”

Frisk extended their hand to their friend, “Come on, let’s go  _ home _ .”


	2. I.

Months passed after the barrier broke, and monsters began to inhabit the surface again. Frisk had agreed to be an ambassador between the monsters and the humans. However, politics were raging around the issue of integrating the monsters into the human society, as, according to the humans, they appeared so suddenly. It already took Frisk multiple times explaining that monsters aren’t harmful, and just want to be able to live their lives just like humans do. But Frisk couldn’t be an ambassador full-time, they had to go to school. But one of the biggest problems was that the schools were segregated.

Toriel was the principal and founder of the first monster school on the surface, while Frisk had to continue to attend her old school. And with the turmoil brewing over the issue of monster and human desegregation, Toriel could not adopt Frisk. So Toriel and Asriel lived together in a small house, just down the street from Frisk, so that they could keep an eye on them. 

After a few weeks of being back on the surface, Asriel noticed that, when Frisk was returning home from school, they seemed to hide away, not wanting to spend time with Asriel or Toriel. Being the concerned friend he was, Toriel allowed Asriel to leave school a little early so that he could wait outside of Frisk’s school for them. He thought, at the very least, he could walk Frisk home, and they could catch up on what’s been going on.

Asriel found a bench outside of the school, and waited for the day to come to an end for the students. 2:13 PM glared at him from his watch that rested on his wrist.  _ Only 2 more minutes until school lets out… _

At 2:15 PM, on the dot, the bell that signaled the end of the school day rang, and the sound of hundreds of feet were pounding from beyond the entrance doors. Suddenly, Asriel was extremely nervous. He had just realized that he was by himself outside of the human school, and kids were not nice. He held his head high, like the monster prince he was, and the one his mother reminded him he was, and waited for the children to arrive.

What emerged from the door surprised even Asriel. They were not all children. Most of the humans leaving the school were taller, and their facial features slightly more mature than Frisk’s own. Toriel had told him about the human school system, and that there was 3 types of school that the humans had to attend, not including college which was completely optional. Elementary school was for the younger children, middle school was a three year transitional school where Toriel described the children going through something called “puberty”, and that they did not like to be called children. The third was called high school, and he did not really understand why.

Frisk was a small human, with child-like features, and Asriel often forgot that they were only 13. But the children pouring out from this middle school seemed much older to him. Was Frisk not receiving the correct nutrition to grow?

He waited and waited, and watched many faces walk by him and stare. His stomach twisted into knots, but he kept a stoic face. After what seemed like hours, but was only three minutes, Frisk emerged from the double doors, they’re head down. 

“Frisk!” Asriel called out, waving his arm above his head.

Frisk lifted their head, looking for the origin of the call. 

Asriel cupped his hands around his mouth, “Frisk!” He called, and moved back to waving his arm around.

When Frisk spotted Asriel, they’re eyes grew wide. They ducked their head down, and tried to blend in with the crowd and escape.

“Frisk…?” Asriel murmured to himself. He set off after his friend, trying to find them in the crowd of kids. Within seconds, Frisk was gone, and couldn’t be seen. He had just about given up, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw Frisk, hands in their pockets, heading the general direction of home.

Asriel’s brow furrowed, and he decided to follow Frisk. Why were they avoiding him? He quickened his pace, but still kept back until they were a little further away. Maybe Frisk was embarrassed to be his friend, and didn’t want their human friends to know. The thought saddened Asriel, but he pushed the thought out of his mind until he got answers.

As he got closer to Frisk, and the crowd was far behind them, Asriel reached his hand out. “Frisk.”

Frisk froze. The autumn air pushed against them, bringing the smell of decaying leaves. Frisk’s coat raised and lowered as they sighed, and let their shoulders droop. 

“Frisk, why did you run away from me?”

“Asriel, I’m really busy and need to get home. I have a lot of homework to do, and I’m still working on the proposal for the desegregation of the schools. I don’t have time to play.”

“That’s not what I asked, Frisk. I know you’re busy, I would just like to know you’re okay. Mom is worried about you. And…” Asriel’s voice caught in his throat, “And… I just wanted to make sure… We were still friends…”

“Asriel! Ugh…” Frisk seemed irritated. “Asriel, of course we’re still friends, but…” They still refused to look at him. “Please, please don’t come back to school, okay?”

The words stabbed Asriel in the chest. His breath caught in his throat, and his stomach churning. “Frisk…”

“It’s not you, Asriel. I promise.”

Asriel huffed, and walked toward Frisk’s back. “Frisk, please!” He placed his hand on their shoulder, attempting to turn them toward him.

“Stop…” Frisk sounded defeated.

“Frisk, please,” Asriel pulled a little more.

Suddenly, Frisk turned around, anger plain on their face. Their face, however, had bruises, and was thin.

“There!” Frisk screamed, “Happy?”

“Oh my… Frisk…” Asriel’s heart hurt. He immediately wrapped his arms around the small human, their head sinking into his chest.

Frisk’s shoulders shook, and sniffles were muffled against Asriel’s jacket, which was suddenly wet. He placed his hand on Frisk’s head, and rested his cheek there as well. He pet their head and bit, then moved his hand to their back to give that a rub, and let the human cry into his jacket.

They were there for some time before Frisk began to calm down a little, but Asriel continued to hold onto them.

“Frisk, what happened?”

“Asriel… The humans… They’re so mean…”

“Did someone do this to you?” Anger burned in his chest like bile, waiting to hear a name so he could take care of it.

Frisk nodded, “Yeah, they hit me. They hit me because I’m a ‘monster lover’. They won’t listen, though, Asriel. They won’t listen when I explain how monsters are good. But, that isn’t the worst of it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Asriel… My parents don’t even notice the bruises… They don’t care that I come home hurt…”

He didn’t know what he could do. Him and Toriel already tried to adopt Frisk so they wouldn’t have to live with such awful parents, but they were denied that. He wondered if their parents were doing this on purpose as a sort of punishment, not only for running away, but for also have the audacity to befriend monsters, and to prefer them instead.

“Frisk… Why don’t you come over for a while? I’ll ask mom to make some butterscotch-cinnamon pie. You need to relax for a bit. I’ll take care of your homework, okay?”

Frisk nodded into his jacket. They pulled away, and wiped their tears away with their sleeve.

“Just don’t make a habit of this, okay?” Asriel chuckled a little, and rubbed Frisk’s head. He wrapped his arm around their shoulder, and he felt his heart pound a little faster. Home was just a bit away.


	3. II

The smell of the butterscotch-cinnamon pie swirled in the air of the home, warm with the fire going in the fireplace, and cozy with plenty of blankets lying around and books piled high on the floor and bookshelves stuffed full. Asriel sat at the kitchen table, Frisk’s homework and textbooks scattered around him. Frisk sat in the chair next to him, holding a cup of tea between their hands, and watching Asriel do the work. Every now and then, Asriel would ask a question pertaining to the homework, and Frisk would repeat the lesson that was taught to them that day.

Toriel kept to herself, not trying to bring attention to Frisk’s bruises all over their face, but thoughts ran through their head as to what would lead to such marks on such a sweet, non-threatening child. While the pie was baking in the oven, Toriel began working on the dinner for the royal family, making sure to have all the important staples of a monster diet. 

“You’re school is so weird, Frisk,” Asriel started, “You’re both ahead, and behind us. Sure, we may not know as much about human history, but we understand math and science better, and learn it in an order that makes sense.” Asriel rubbed his temples.

Frisk giggled, and sipped their tea. Setting the cup down, they remarked, “Yeah, but you have Dr. Alphys and Sans, and they explain things a little better, and don’t have the government telling them what to teach.”

Toriel smiled to herself, and continued to let the children talk about themselves. Toriel was surprised by the sound of her cell phone ringing. She reached into the pocket of her apron where she was keeping the phone, and looked at the screen. It read ‘ASGORE’. Rolling her eyes, she left the kitchen and went into the living room, and out of earshot of the children. She pressed the green receive button on the phone, and brought it under her ear, resting against her cheek.

“What. Dreemurr?” Toriel answered the phone, clearly annoyed.

“Tori..” The voice was gruff, and sad.

“Do not call me that. What do you want?” She rested her open and unused hand in the crook of the elbow holding the phone, and leaned against the nearest wall.

“I, uh, I heard about the incident with Frisk…”

“How...did you hear already?”

“Asriel texted me what happened a few minutes ago. Are the children all right?” Asgore was clearly very concerned.

Toriel sighed, “They’re both fine, Asgore. Frisk is clearly bruised and beat-up kind of bad, but Asriel wasn’t involved. He only brought Frisk to the house.”

“Can I come see them…?” Toriel could hear that he was testing his boundaries.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea tonight, Asgore. Why don’t you wait a bit until things have settled down and Frisk is better?” The question was rhetorical. She was insisting that he not come over tonight.

“Right, right. I understand… Just let Frisk know I still stand by them. We’re going to fix everything.” His  _ determination _ was obvious.

Toriel smiled to herself, still admiring Asgore’s perserverence, despite his methods at times. He seemed to be much more pacifistic since they left the underground, looking for more logic based solutions alongside Dr. Alphys and Frisk.

“Yeah, yeah,” She sighed again into the phone, “I’ll let them know. I’ll let you know when it’s appropriate to visit the kids.”

“Yeah, yeah… Thanks, Tori…”

She hung up the phone, shaking her head. Before entering the kitchen again, Toriel looked into the room and watched the children talk and work on the homework. Frisk continued to explain a lesson the homework was covering as Asriel scratched his head in confusion. She smiled to herself, again, and finally entered the room and continued work on the meal.

About half an hour had passed when Asriel groaned loudly.

“Finally!” He exclaimed, “Done!” He threw the pencil down onto the table.

Frisk giggled, and clapped for their friend, “Thank you, Asriel. You’re the best.”

Toriel looked at the children out of the corner of her eye in time to catch her son blush. She looked back to the meal, making two plates.

“Just in time, since dinner is ready.”

Snails adorned the plates, with other accoutrements. 

“Mom, can Frisk stay for dinner?” Asriel begged, his eyes huge.

Frisk was packing their homework and textbooks back into their bag, avoiding eye contact.

“If Frisk wants to stay, they’re more than welcome to.” Toriel went into the cabinet, and grabbed another plate. Toriel knew that humans, and especially Frisk, didn’t really eat snails. However, Toriel always kept a supply of human food in the kitchen, just for instances like this, and to adjust herself and her son to the kind of food on the Surface.

“I should probably go home… I need to get ready for school tomorrow…” Frisk was quiet, still avoiding eye contact.

Toriel’s heart panged with pain. “Frisk, honey, at least stay for dinner. I’ll make you a… pie-zuh-ah…?” She raised an eyebrow, looking at the box.

Frisk giggled again, “A pizza.”

“Pizza!” Toriel exclaimed, smiling at the box, holding it in front of her as if it was the greatest gift to grace her.

She placed the frozen pizza into the oven, “It’ll be about 15 minutes, okay? I should have just gone ahead and prepared it at the same time as our dinner.”

“It’s okay. Thank you,” Frisk smiled to Toriel, they’re face swollen, they’re clothes dirty with mud.

“Frisk,” Toriel looked at them sadly, “Let me wash your clothes, okay? You can wear some of Asriel’s until it’s done.”

Frisk looked down at their clothes, and nodded.

“Asriel, go get Frisk a set of clothes to wear while I wash theirs.”

Asriel nodded excitedly, and ran out the kitchen. His running up the stairs to his room could be heard in the kitchen.

Toriel came over to the kitchen table, and sat next to Frisk.

“While he’s gone…” Toriel started, and looked to Frisk, “My child, what happened?”

Frisk’s smile faded instantly, and they looked down to their feet. “Nothing…”

“Do not lie to me, my child. Please tell me. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

Frisk was quiet for only a second, before sighing, and starting their story.

“The kids at school call me ‘monster lover’. It doesn’t bother me, because I do love monsters. But then they push me and hurt me, and call me ‘monster lover’, like it’s bad. They treat me like I have a disease, and they don’t want to catch it. I try and tell them how monsters actually are, how nice they are and smart, and that they just want to live on the Surface and be like everyone else. But they won’t listen…”

Toriel placed a reassuring hand on Frisk’s shoulder, urging them to continue.

“Usually I just get pushed into the lockers, or get my books knocked out of my hand. I don’t really care. But today, today they decided to take it further. I was walking back from the bathroom, and a couple of kids cornered me. They would hit me, and tell me to fight them. I would refuse, but they continued. After a little while, they just resorted to punching and kicking me to the ground. But I wouldn’t fight back. What would be the point? I’ve learned fighting does nothing, and the only way to win these battles is to talk to them and to just be a  _ pacifist _ . But, they just don’t listen…”

Hot tears fell down Frisk’s face. They weren’t angry, or upset with the kids that beat her up at all. They were sad because the other humans didn’t understand, and they didn’t want to. Frisk was sad because she just wants everyone to get along.

Toriel pat Frisk’s back, and placed her hand on Frisk’s head and patted that as well.

“My child, you have already made so much progress. I know it is sad, but they will come around. They will see us as the same, some day, and it will be because of all your efforts.”

Frisk sniffed and wiped their tears away. They looked up at Toriel, and smiled a sad smile, “Thank you, Toriel.”

At that moment, Asriel could be heard running down the stairs. He slid into the kitchen, holding clothes out in front of him. Frisk approached and took the clothes, going into the nearest bathroom to change.

Moments passed before Frisk appeared in the kitchen again, handing Toriel their dirty clothes.

“Your pizza is ready, my child. You two go ahead and eat while I get this started.”

Frisk grabbed their plate with a slice of pizza on it, cut awkwardly. Asriel grabbed his own plate of food, and they sat at the table and ate, talking about a book series Frisk introduced to Asriel a few weeks prior.

When Toriel returned, she grabbed her own plate, and ate with the children. Half an hour passed, and Frisk’s clothes still weren’t clean, but all of them were done eating. 

“Frisk, you should spend the night!” Asriel exclaimed.

Frisk blushed, pulling at the shirt about a size too big for them, looking like a dress. Asriel looked to his mother, “Please?” Asriel’s eyes were large, and his lower lip quivered.

Toriel smiled, and looked toward Frisk, “Would your parents be okay with that?” Toriel knew that Frisk’s parents were cruel and uncaring. She knew that Frisk’s parents would probably not even notice Frisk not coming home.

Frisk looked to the Royal family, and smiled. Frisk nodded, and the preparations were made. Asriel was meant to sleep either with Toriel in her room, or on the couch in the living room, and Frisk would be allowed to sleep in Asriel’s room. But it was still early, so the children went into the living room and watched TV while Toriel cleaned up in the kitchen.

When all was clean, she turned out the kitchen lights, and made her way to the stairs. “You two don’t stay up too late, okay? You both have school in the morning.”

The two called back an “Okay”, and went back to watching TV.

As the moments passed, the two teenagers got more and more comfortable on the couch, each laying down, each of their heads on a different hand rest, a blanket covering their bodies. 

Frisk’s eye lids became heavy, growing harder and harder to open again. Asriel shifting uncomfortably, growing tired himself. But something has been bothering him for a while…

“Hey, Frisk?”


	4. III.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Sorry for the slow updates! I'm a full-time college student and approaching finishing my undergrad, so I spend a lot of my time sleeping or doing school work. Thank you all for sticking with me! <33  
> Also, this chapter is a little short, but it'll lead into a longer chapter that I'm already writing and should be ready in a few days!  
> Again, thanks for sticking with me! <3

“Frisk?” Asriel called out to his friend. He sat up, looking over to where Frisk was laying down. They’re eyes were closed, and they’re chest rose and fell softly against the shirt two sizes too big. They’re breathing was gentle, but audible.

Asriel smiled to himself, not wanting to wake Frisk just to ask his silly question. He lied down again, resting his head on the arm of the couch. He should either go to his room, or somehow move Frisk there, but he wasn’t tired enough to sleep himself yet, so he turned his attention back to the TV.

The two had been watching a series of cartoons, and they looked like the sort that Dr. Alphys watches with Undyne. He turned the channel a few times, before settling on a channel he knew played movies the humans made that centered around a theme.

The theme was love, but not in the way he knew it.

This type of love was deeper than what Frisk and he had. It was the love his mother and father shared, before Chara came into their lives.

Asriel felt a sudden sickness in his stomach at the thought of Chara. Chara was once someone he called best friend, someone he would consider a sibling. His parents treated Chara with nothing but kindness and loved, and treated Chara like a child of their own.

Chara hated humanity. They were nothing like Frisk. Frisk was kind, and understanding. Frisk wanted to help everyone, and make a world of acceptance and peace. Chara was one who wanted to destroy everyone and everything. Chara wanted to kill all the humans.

Asriel still didn’t know why Chara hated humanity. He asked, and never got an answer, and knew better than to push Chara’s buttons. But he loved Chara all the same. He loved Chara for the person they were, and he put their intentions to the side.

When Chara died…

Asriel shook his head, and pushed the thoughts out of his head, turning his attention, again, back to the TV. He watched as the human couple held hands, and walked along a path next to a body of water. There were trees surrounding them, and people were happy. Watching these humans share the same kind of love his parents once shared filled Asriel with a bittersweet feeling. His parents’ love was so pure, and yet, he watched it fall apart, all because of him and Chara. 

And yet he still adored the feeling of love. He liked the idea of having someone to spend all your time with, someone he could talk to about anything, and someone who made him laugh in his worst moments. He loved the idea of love, as cliche as it was.

He wanted to ask Frisk about their opinion of that kind of love. He knew Frisk could love, they loved every monster from the Underground, and they loved the humans, although sometimes the humans did not love them back. But he wanted to know what they thought of  _ love _ .

The movie went on, and Asriel watched intently, smiling to himself whenever something good happened to the characters. As the night went on, his eyelids became heavier and heavier, and it became difficult to keep them open at all. Asriel slowly drifted to sleep with the comfort of his friend beside him. 

He would ask Frisk about love sometime later.


	5. IV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, two chapters in two days, I'm proud of myself. :3 Anyways, one more time, thank you all for sticking with me, and supporting me by reading this story. It really means a lot! I hope you enjoy this chapter~

Darkness was all that could be seen. Every direction, for miles and miles, was pure darkness. But this was more than darkness. This was dread. A dread so thick it would catch in your throat, and deny your lungs their pleasure in breath.

This was dread. This was hatred.

Despite the intense darkness, a darkness so pure it felt as though the floor did not exist, a single figure could be seen as though a spotlight shone upon them. They sat on the ground, facing away. Their green sweater with yellow stripes stood out from the pitch surrounding them. They’re mahogany hair swayed, as though a gentle breeze was caressing them sweetly.

“Come here.” Their voice was hollow, and seemed to be creating the void surrounding them. Their voice was heavy with hatred.

Approaching the figure made breathing difficult.

“Sit, Asriel.”

Asriel lowered himself to the ground. The only change in perspective was the ’back of the figure’s head was no directly in his line of sight, rather than below him.

Asriel fidgeted with his fingers and hands, not wanting to speak, or move too quickly.

“You disappoint me, Asriel.”

“Chara--”

“Shut up, Asriel, I’m talking.”

Asriel slowly closed his mouth, and looked down into his lap. Chara was clearly facing away from him, but he still felt like they were looking down at him.

“You disappoint me, Asriel,” Chara chuckled to their self, “You give up too easily.”

Asriel knew better than to talk to Chara after being silenced. Fear bubbled in his belly, and into his throat. He swallowed back the bile, and blinked away the small tears forming in his eyes.

“Even now, you give up fighting against me.” Chara sighed, they’re small shoulders rising and falling. “Why do you give up so easily?”

He only shifted his eyes upward. “Chara, I…”

“Shut up, Asriel.”

He lowered his eyes again, feeling the shame of disappointing his old friend.

“You were supposed to help me destroy the humans.”

It was then when Asriel could no longer hold back, “Why? Why did you want to destroy them so badly?”

“Humans are evil, Asriel. They are cruel, and they are evil.” Chara’s voice was monotone, as if stating a fact.

“You’re cruel!” Asriel lashed back without thinking about what he just said. He quickly covered his mouth, his eyes growing wide. He went to stand and run away, but his legs were lead, and his body an anchor.

The void became cold quickly, and all the air seemed to disappear at an alarming rate. But he no longer needed to breathe. Instead, he feared for his life. That he would be murdered.

Chara’s head slowly began to turn around towards him, swiveling just from the neck, with no movement in their body. Asriel could see that Chara’s eyes were just hollow, and bled black tar down their face, and their jaw hung loose from their head.

Asriel fought every urge to vomit right then. Instead, he cried. He went to scream, but no sound could be heard.

As soon as the event happened, it reverted back to a few seconds prior, with Chara facing away from him. Asriel looked around, unsure of what just happened. Does Chara control time within this realm?

“You don’t understand, Asriel…”

“Help me understand, Chara. Please,” Asriel pleaded his old friend, wanting to reach out and pat them on the back.

In the time it took Asriel to blink, he found himself on his back, with Chara sitting on top of him, their red eyes piercing into his own.

“You’ll learn on your own. You’ll see the evil of the humans. You’ll see the corruption and cruelty. You will understand in your own time.”

“You’re wrong, Chara. The humans are nice. And I have Frisk to--”

“Frisk,” Chara scoffed, flipping their bangs out of their face. “What does Frisk know?” Chara crossed their arms over their chest, huffing out their chest.

“Frisk knows a lot more than you!” Asriel yelled, sitting up and throwing Chara to the side. “Frisk knows about love, and forgiveness. Frisk is going to change the world!”

“Okay, crybaby, calm down.”

“Shut up!” Asriel defied, sniffling as the tears did indeed start forming in his eyes. “Shut up, Chara! Just shut up!” Asriel got to his feet, clenching his fists down at his sides.

“Asriel?” He heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

Asriel turned on his heels, trying to find the source of the voice.

“Frisk?” He called out, trying to find his friend in the darkness.

“Asriel?!” Frisk was more frantic this time.

“Frisk!” He called out into the void.

“Asriel,” Chara repeated his name.

He turned back to them, Chara’s eyes flat, and as void of emotion as the void they lived in.

“Asriel, go back to the village. Not tomorrow, not next week. But someday, go back to the village.” Chara turned away, and walked away into the darkness.

Asriel furrowed his brow, not sure what he would find at the small and abandoned village.

“Asriel!” Frisk called again.

Asriel turned his attention to the voice, finally finding the source. In the distance, was a faint source of light, and the source of his friend’s voice.

“Frisk!” He called again, running towards the light.

 

His eyes fluttered open, finding Frisk standing over him, and his mother behind them. 

“What…?”

“Oh, Asriel!” Frisk hugged their friend around the neck. “You scared us.”

“What are you talking about?”

Frisk pulled back, looking toward Toriel, then they both looked toward him again.

“My child, my son, you kept calling out Chara’s name… Are you okay?”

Asriel blinked a few times, trying to remember his dream. Was it really only a dream? Every second felt just as real as this moment. Was Chara still alive somehow…? Are they at the village, alive, and hurt, waiting for Asriel to save them?

“Oh, uh, yeah. I just had a…bad dream…” Asriel kept the dream a secret, not sure what to make of it, yet. “Just a bad dream…”


	6. V.

The morning after his nightmare, Asriel felt like he was in a haze. Sound was muted, colors were dull, and joy was only a step up from neutral. It was a surprise to him that Chara still had such a strong hold on him, despite it being years and years since their last interaction. Or...was it?

The breakfast was dominated by Frisk and Toriel chatting, mainly with Frisk asking about monsters that decided to stay in the underground for the time being, and some forever. While, yes, it was recently that Frisk was in the underground, traveling by themselves to save all monsters, it was difficult for them to return to visit, due to their school and ambassador responsibilities.

“Asriel?”

Why did Chara visit him in his dream?

“Asriel? Hello?”

What was in the village? Was there anything? Was Chara even real, or was it really just a dream?

“Asriel!”

He snapped to attention, “Huh?”

“Where’d you go, your majesty?” Frisk teased him.

“Sorry, guess I just didn’t sleep well. With my nightmare, and all.”

“Asriel, my son, could you walk Frisk to school?” Toriel asked, looking at him sweetly.

He nodded, while Frisk left the table with Toriel to go receive their clean school clothes for the day. Asriel gathered the dishes from the table, and placed them in the sink for him to wash and take care of later. He wandered around the home until he found his mother once again.

“Hey, mom?”

“Yes, my child?” Toriel didn’t even turn around as she continued to pull clothes out of the clothes dryer, folding them, and placing them in a basket. Frisk must have already retrieved their clothes, and was changing.

“Could I... stay home from school today? I’m not feeling too good…” Asriel leaned against the door frame, his hands in his pockets, and looking down to his feet.

Toriel turned slightly, looking to him. Her eyes grew soft, and she turned, and leaned over to hug him. 

“Of course, my son. But only today, okay? No making a habit of this,” She smiled, chuckling a little while pulling back, and touching the tip of his nose.

He smiled weakly to his mother, and moved to the main door, and waited for Frisk to bound down the stairs, and go to grab their backpack and shoes.

“Ugh, Frisk,” Asriel groaned, “Why do you take so long?” He teased, smiling down at his friend.

“Shut up, Asriel,” Frisk teased back with a laugh.

Asriel’s heart sank, his breath caught in his throat, and his mind went blank. He felt frozen in time. The dread grew in his stomach rapidly, and his eyes quickly darted around, searching for Chara.

“Asriel?”

He lifted his hand to his chest, grasping at the collar of his shirt, quickly growing hot.

“Asriel!” Frisk dropped their bag, and ran over to Asriel with only one shoe on, wrapping their arms around him.

“Asriel, calm down.” Frisk’s voice was calm and quiet.

Asriel’s breathing slowed, his vision coming back to him. He put his arms around Frisk, feeling a warm body, and squeezed. He continued to look around, trying to find Chara, and found nothing. He rested his chin on Frisk’s head, and finally allowed himself to blink, and shut his eyes momentarily.

“Are you okay?”

He nodded, pushing his chin into the top of their head. “Yeah,” he whispered, “I’m fine…”

Frisk pulled away, smiling to their friend. They turned, and continued to put their shoes on.

Asriel’s mind raced and raced. How many years  _ had _ it been, since he last saw Chara? Decades? But...had it actually been that long? The more he thought about it, that dream was not the first time he had seen Chara since their death. He had seen them since. But when? And how?

Asriel looked toward Frisk, still putting on their shoes, and as his vision began to blur, he saw Chara in Frisk’s place. His eyes grew wide, and he swallowed down the bile building in the back of his throat, and it was Frisk once more, finally able to get the knot in their shoelaces to stay. Looking at Frisk closely, he could see the similarities between them and Chara, like he noticed whenever he first met Frisk. But Frisk was not Chara.

_ Chara is dead, Chara can’t hurt you _ , Asriel thought to himself.

“Ready to go, Asriel?” Frisk had their backpack already slung over one shoulder, and was reaching for the other strap behind their back.

Asriel smiled to his friend, approached them, and helped them get their other strap.

“Yeah, come on,” He said, ruffling Frisk’s hair, “Race ya!”


End file.
